Guatemala suspends yet another key presidential candidate

Controversy surrounding the June 25 elections in Guatemala intensified last Friday after the country’s electoral courts provisionally suspended more than 200 candidates from the center-right Citizen Prosperity (PC) party.

The list of names includes Carlos Pineda, a businessman who was leading the presidential race in several polls, making him the third presidential candidate to be banned from the race.

The original complaint was filed by the Cambio party, Mr. Pineda’s former political faction, which is polling under 1 percent in the presidential race. According to Cambio representatives, the meetings held to pick PC’s candidates did not follow proper procedure.

Electoral judges upheld the complaint in a special session, putting the PC’s bids “on hold.” It will now be up to Guatemala’s Constitutional Court to decide whether the ban will be lifted in time for the national elections. 

Mr. Pineda has protested the decision ever since, calling it “fraud” and denouncing what he called “the deterioration of the rule of law in Guatemala.” On Saturday, the candidate filed an appeal with high courts, as a group of his supporters protested “for the right to choose” near the court’s headquarters.

The issue also raised alarms outside the country. Over the weekend, European Union spokesman Peter Stano said the community “notes with concern the repeated decisions to exclude electoral candidacies” and called Guatemalan authorities to proceed with “full transparency and impartiality.” 

Courts have already disqualified the tickets of left-leaning indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera and conservative businessman Roberto Arzú, the son of former president Álvaro Arzú. 

• Go deeper: Candidate bans cloud Guatemala’s election year

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